Cooking with Kirin: Chicken katsu curry

I was lucky enough to receive two crates of Kirin Ichiban beer from Wells Brewery recently – and rather than just drink myself silly (because how can I blog about that?) I wondered what we could eat with it. So, here’s my first Japanese cooking video in a long time – chicken katsu curry!

(Sorry about the black bars! I uploaded this video three times and when it came up full screen the sound was gone, so went with version 1 in the end).

The recipe I followed was from Jamie Oliver’s Comfort Food, which I highly recommend and is my most-used cookery book. The recipe is below if you want to try it out yourself. I might consider doing some more ‘Cooking with Kirin’ videos, so if you there’s anything else you want me to cook, comment below!

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 x 150g skinless boneless chicken breasts

250ml buttermilk

2 heaped teaspoons medium curry powder

2 garlic cloves

120g panko breadcrumbs

320g basmati rice

25g creamed coconut

2 litres vegetable oil

Sauce

1 onion

1 piece of ginger

1 medium carrot

1 bunch fresh coriander

Olive oil

1 tsp each of garam masala, medium curry powder, turmeric

2 heaped tablespoons plain flour

1 heaped teaspoon mango chutney

Pickle

1 red onion

1 lemon

1 fresh red chilli

Method (shorthand – I really recommend referring to the original book – its worth buying!)

Flatten each chicken breast with your hand. Place in a bowl and pour over the buttermilk, then add the curry powder, pinch of salt, garlic, and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs in a tray, shake the excess buttermilk off the chicken breasts then roll them in the breadcrumbs. Press down to make them stick, then put back in the fridge until you need them.

Chop together the onion, garlic, ginger, carrot and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves for garnish). Fry in a large pan over medium heat with some olive oil and the spices for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in the mango chutney, flour and 800ml of boiling water. Leave to blip away for 15 minutes.

Prepare the rice and break in the creamed coconut.

Chop the chilli and red onion, and stir in the lemon juice, to make a quick pickle.

Just under half-fill a large pan with vegetable oil. Put a piece of potato in and wait for it to float to the top and sizzle slightly – any hotter and you will nuclear fry the chicken! Use a slotted spoon to ease the chicken in and let it cook for 8 minutes until gold and cooked through.

Serve with the rice, lots of sauce, pickle, garnish… and some Kirin Ichiban beer!